Norris shares take on key Ferrari, Mercedes feat at Barcelona testing

11:15, 31 Jan

Updated: 11:56, 31 Jan

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bySamson Ero

Lando Norris is not swayed by the gap in lap times seen between teams during testing in Barcelona.

“I think it’s so easy to get caught up in comparisons. It’s just because we’re all competitive.”

- Lando Norris

The 2025 Drivers’ Champion, in the aftermath of his run during the final round of testing in Barcelona, revealed that the team’s focus remained solely on understanding the car’s reliability rather than chasing outright pace.

“I think it’s so easy to get caught up in comparisons. It’s just because we’re all competitive, so you always want to see yourself doing well and feel like you can be quick,” Norris explained to F1.com.

“I think we understood a lot, both in low-fuel and high-fuel runs, and the tyres. What we came here to do really is understand the car, especially from a reliability point of view, make sure that all the sensors are working as they should, the power units are working as they should, gearbox, whatever it is, everything just doing as we expect, because reliability is one of the most important things,” Norris added.

Lando Norris - Photo: Race Pictures

The British driver also highlighted that the team will continue to analyse the data from testing in the coming days, while he works on getting fully comfortable with the MCL40.

“A lot of it is from that side, and a lot of it is stuff over the next few days and weeks that the team will look into and try to improve and make better.”

“From my side, yeah, just to get back comfortable with the car. Some little bits I need to change here and there, but otherwise, it still feels like a race car—still feels fast and still enjoyable,” Norris concluded.

Despite clocking one of the fastest times of Friday’s running, Norris was about three-tenths off the pace set by Lewis Hamilton. The McLaren driver was also a few tenths adrift of the time set by George Russell during his runs on Friday.

Piastri broadly satisfied with MCL40

Earlier, Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri admitted he is quickly coming to grips with the MCL40 challenger.

The Australian driver said he enjoyed his final run much more compared to the first two days of running he experienced during testing.

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